I was given the opportunity to try two best sellers from french skincare line Nuxe.

I was particularly looking forward to trying their lip balm because I am constantly on a lookout for a lip balm that will keep my super dry lips happy (and compatible with my matte lipstick fetish). I’ve heard so many people rave about this product and it’s reached cult status amongst the beauty blogging community. They say that a pot of Nuxe Rêve de Miel sells every 28 seconds.

Nuxe Rêve de Miel ($19.95) is a beeswax based balm featuring honey, sweet almond oil, shea butter, and grapefruit extract. It also uses silicones in it’s formula, which gives it a matte velvety finish, and makes it a rather excellent lip primer. Because it is matte, it can be used past the lip line, which is great for people with dry skin or dermatitis around the lips. The consistency is unusual- it is very thick and a little waxy- but applies smooth once on the lips.

On my lips it’s better than the average lip balm, but not as good as my favourites for hydrating chapped lips (Jack Black and People for Plants balms). Given how well it works for the vast majority of lips, you probably have a good chance that it performs more impressively as a balm on you than it does on me. The stand out feature for me, however, is the way that Rêve de Miel doubles as a lip primer- if you apply a small amount on the lips and just past the lip line, it works very well in keeping your lipstick looking fresh and preventing your lip colour from bleeding. OCC Lip Tars are the worst when it comes to bleeding past the lip line, and I’ve always had to run the edge of a tissue along my lip line through the day when wearing these- until now!

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse ($39.95) is a multipurpose ‘dry’ oil for face, body, and hair. It is a lightweight oil that you mist onto your skin or hair, and leaves a subtle sheen and fragrance. I like using this as a skin ‘finishing spray’ before heading out to give my skin a bit of dewiness, and it since it’s so lightweight it works in summer too. I love how easy it is to apply, and how quickly it absorbs- I can mist harder to reach areas like in between my shoulder blades, and not have to work to rub it in. For me it isn’t rich enough to replace a regular body moisturiser after the shower, so it’s an extra step that I typically will only do if I’m going out.

The fragrance of Huile Prodigieuse is fairly prominent, and tends to stick around for awhile after applying so this might be an awesome perk if you like the scent. I would advise giving this a sniff before purchasing just in case you don’t.

Huile Prodigeuse is petrolatum free and does not use propylene glycol- it does contain silicones though, so if you are sensitive to ‘cones on your face you might want to keep to using this on your body and hair.[EDIT: I’ve been advised that I’ve looked at the wrong ingredient list, and there are NO SILICONES in the Huile Prodigeuse. I’ve amended my list. Apologies!]

Mulberry (30AUD) is a matte wine- berry with a brown undertone- a gorgeous ‘english rose’ flush of colour which can be sheered out or layered for a more dramatic look. Although this is supposed to be a lip product, I actually love using this as a cream blush on the cheeks- in fact, I prefer it as a cheek product. I tap a small amount of the product on the apples of the cheeks, then blend- it is quite pigmented when used as a blush so a little bit goes a long way. This looks fantastic as a coordinated lip and cheek colour. I’m The Laura Mercier Lip Stains have the consistency of a potted lipstick, with a slight waxiness. I find Mulberry neither drying nor moisturising on my lips, although (not surprisingly, it looks a lot nicer when applied on moisturised lips) The lasting power is not great on my lips – lasting just over 1hr, although blotting and layering extends that to 1.5-2hrs (some days I don’t mind reapplying, some days I have no time for it). Interestingly enough, the lasting power is really decent on the cheeks- almost all day wear, which is better than most blushes on me. For that reason, I probably use it more as a cheek product than a lippy.

Valentine’s day is coming up very soon! Just like every other major cosmetics brand, Burt’s Bees have been gearing up for Friday the 14th and have you covered with all natural, petrolatum-free lip products for the romantic season.

They kindly sent through the Burt’s Bees Lip Shine in Smooch, Burt’s Bees Lip Gloss in Sweet Sunset, Burt’s Bees Lip Gloss in Ruby Moon to be featured.

Now, for the swatches…

Sweet Sunset: A medium pigmentation copper gloss with fine shimmer. Looks ok when swatched, but magnificent on the lips- almost a dark sepia neutral quality that I find very flattering. Lasting power is a fairly short 30-45mins before significant fading and frequent reapplication is required. Nevertheless, super pretty and versatile.

This is my favourite of the three, and a product that I’ve been using quite a bit since it landed in my hotel room “office” a week ago.

As part of their ‘Enchanted Collection’ for Summer 2012, Clarins brought their rather delicious looking Instant Smooth Crystal Balms to Australia. You may have noticed that the Crystal Balms have been reformulated in recent times to include a colour core, which means (yay!) better pigmentation.

This was the first Clarins lip product I’ve tried, and I’m smitten.

Clarins says…

Instant Smooth Crystal Balm delivers lipstick true colour thanks to its colour ‘heart’ that is highly concentrated in pigments and pearls. Its bullet has a surprising crystal look that adds a touch of natural shine to the final result.

Crystal Coral is a gorgeous blood orange coral, with a juicy shine. It’s bright shade, but at the same time quite wearable.

Unlike the previous version of the Crystal Balms without the colour core (see Rae’s review of the older version on The Notice) , these are surprisingly pigmented with medium coverage in one layer. I find that the shine wears off in about 30mins-1hr, but the colour clings on as a soft stain for quite a long time (around 3-4hrs on me, which is impressive for a lipstick/gloss/balm hybrid).

The Clarins Crystal balms are lightweight and non sticky. As far as hydration goes- it’s lightly moisturising but will not replace my heavy duty lip balms when my lips are dry.

I was very excited to receive the pack of limited edition Face Of Australia Sheer Gloss Lip Crayons in the mail about a week ago, sent by the lovely Face Of Australia fairy (Tina). They’re FOA’s drugstore answer to the Clinique Chubby Sticks, and they really seem to give Clinique a run for their money!

These Lip Crayons are basically a tinted lip balm in stick form. They have sheer to medium pigmentation, a subtle glossy finish, and lightweight/thin consistency.

Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Macaron:

Macaron is my favourite out of the three Lip Crayon shades- it is a medium strawberry pink and very similar to Clinique’s Chunky Cherry (reviewed here )

Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Sundae:

A neutral toffee brown colour, which is quite similar to Clinique’s ‘Graped Up’ Chubby Stick (reviewed here.). Both this and Clinique’s Graped Up doesn’t seem to suit me, but I’ve seen it look gorgeous on girls with a lot of red/pink natural pigment in their lips which lifts the colour (see it on Suzanne for example).

Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Cupcake:

Cupcake is a light, cool toned pink which has sheer but buildable pigmentation. This would look best on fair girls with lightly pigmented lips in my opinion.

Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Sundae lip swatch

Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Cupcake lip swatch

Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Macaron lip swatch

Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Sundae, Cupcake, and Macaron swatch

Texture wise, the Face Of Australia Sheer Lip Crayons are quite similar to the Clinique Chubby Stick- the Chubby Sticks are perhaps the tiniest bit glossier and slightly more hydrating.. Both products require frequent reapplication to keep up the colour and balm properties.

Australian RRP for the Clinique Chubby Sticks is $35.00, and the RRP for the pack of 3 FOA Lip Crayons is a mere $14.95. Given that the two products are quite similar, the huge price difference means that Face Of Australia Sheer Lip Crayons are much better value and you’d be mad to pass up on these if you’ve ever wanted to try the Chubby Sticks.